The Web for Documents Librarians

Copyright 1997, Jerry Breeze, Jane Cramer, and David Hellman. Used with
permission.

Abstract

The presenters will offer a tour of both well-established and "beginning"
documents web sites, to see the variety of approaches and levels of
complexity that currently exist. We will discuss the various factors
which influence the size and complexity of a site: purpose, staffing,
equipment, connectivity, expertise. We will take a look at some sites
which are useful in the operation of a documents collection, both
official government sites and sites created by documents librarians
themselves in response to a particular need. Finally, we will look at a
number of print tools and web sites which serve as resources for building
a web site and determining its content.

Note:

Discussion

The Web is a powerful and versatile resource for documents librarians. It
can serve as source of information for patrons looking for government
information, as a means of publicizing and distributing local information
and services beyond the walls of the depository library, as a tool for
more effective administration of a documents collection, and as a resource
for building and maintaining a presence on the web itself. The three
librarians involved in this presentation represent three different
approaches and uses of the web in our depository libraries. Many of the
differences in our web sites stem from our unique organizational
structures.

At Brooklyn College, the documents librarian locates and evaluates web
resources, writes the text of the page, including annotations, and hands
it over to members of the Publications Committee, who do the actual coding
and control the overall scope and style of Brooklyn College web pages. Web
development is at a beginning stage -- a single page with links to only a
few major sources. Initially, Jane was told that updates would be
infrequent, perhaps only once a semester. As it became obvious that more
frequent updating is necessary, the policy changed to allow biweekly
updating.

At NYU, the librarian also locates and evaluates web items, and sends the
information to the library systems office, whose staff are responsible for
maintaining the library web presence. The approved NYU icons and logos
must appear on web pages, but David is solely responsible for the content
and arrangement of the pages. The NYU pages are constantly evolving, with
David sending weekly updates to the systems office.

At Columbia, my job was redefined to explicitly include web development. I
learned HTML coding as part of an informal group of librarians who felt
that this was an important development in library services. We meet on a
monthly basis to discuss library web issues and developments. Much of the
early development of LibraryWeb at Columbia was a result of the efforts of
this informal group. We designed a template which each of the individual
library units uses for its initial page, presenting standard information
(location, hours, staff, etc.) in the same way. Beyond that, the
organization, structure, content, and maintenance of the pages is the
responsibility of the individual library unit. I chose to integrate web
resources with the traditional print and microform resources, so that
students and faculty will know the full range of materials available to
them. I update my pages on a daily basis, adding new material and updating
links as needed.

Beyond its value to the communities we serve, the web also is a valuable
resource for the librarians who administer documents collections. Many of
the tools and publications that we used in paper are now up on the web,
allowing us better access to them and opening up new ways of using them.
The FDLP Administration site now makes nearly all of these administrative
tools available. For example, the Item Lister allows us to create and
download a current List of Item Selections for our individual libraries,
rather than relying on the annual mailing from GPO. I was able to create a
list of Superseded CD-ROMs in Columbia's collection by searching, copying
and pasting from the GPO Superseded List.

As handy as these tools are, it's important to note that GPO is rather
late in making these tools available to the documents community. Some
depository libraries didn't wait, and offered their own versions of core
tools and resources much earlier. Items like the Depository Library
Directory, the Inactive and Discontinued Items list, and the PRF are still
only available from non-official web sites. Additionally a host of other
useful information can be found on other library sites -- things like
GODORT information, CD-ROM guides, and lists of depository titles now
available on the Internet.

Most of the publishers who specialize in government information now have
web sites, which can include their annotated catalogs and price lists,
information about new titles and services, and even online ordering
capabilities. On some of my web pages, I have chosen to link directly to
publishers' descriptions of their microform sets. And when I want to check
for something, it's certainly easier to go to the web site than to dig
through catalogs in my vertical file.

There are now many publications dealing with the web, such as Internet
World, which are useful for general web development. There are two,
however, which are specifically targeted at government information. The
Federal Internet Source, published by the National Journal, comes out in
the Fall and Spring of each year, is arranged into the standard categories
for Federal government sources, as well as state and general political
sites. Particularly nice features are the reproduction of the top level
page for many sites and the provision of web, gopher, ftp, and telnet
addresses. I find it very handy for quick referrals to those areas not
covered on my own pages -- states other than New York or the judiciary,
for example. The Internet Connection, from Bernan, is issued 10 times per
year. Each short issue contains articles about 4-6 government sites. For
those sites it covers, it provides some of the most detailed descriptions
available. I also find it useful for the comparative articles, such as the
one in the current April issue, which compares the NTDB on the web with
the CD-ROM version. Bernan was kind enough to send me a number of copies
of this issue to distribute to you here today.

Finally, there are a multitude of sites out there which offer tools and
tips on creating web pages. The ones included here are a small sample of
sites which are either indispensable (the Adobe Acrobat download site,
Beginners Guide to HTML, Doctor HTML, the Table Sampler) or representative
of the kinds of tools available (backgrounds, icons, clip art, etc.).

How did the documents web pages at these three sites come to have their
present form? As part of a process, which began with an assessment of our
own capabilities and the audiences we were trying to reach. At NYU, for
example, since David is also the bibliographer for Political Science, he
has links to guides to the print collections for both U.S. Government
Documents and Political Science. Early on at Columbia's web development, I
decided to not include the judiciary branch, since there is a separate Law
School on campus.

We came up with three basic principles to follow for the ongoing care
that these web sites require:

Simplicity - Start small and add later, if you find
that you have the time and support to do so. Keep the arrangement of your
pages simple and logical. Use graphics sparingly, keeping in mind that
many people will be connecting to your pages via modems, not T2 lines. As
much as I admire the contents of the University of Michigan's Documents
Center pages, it can be a frustrating site to use.

Borrow from others - the web is a collaborative
effort, so take advantage of it. Why re-create a page, when a link will
do? Sometimes the information needs to be customized for your local
audience, but often not. Or, someone else's page on a topic can serve as a
valuable supplement to yours, especially if they have the resources to
update and maintain it more often than you do. Luckily, we deal with
information that is largely not copyrighted. I copy source code and
graphics from government web servers all the time.

Evolve - There is no such thing as a finished web
page. Once your web site has grown beyond a few pages, you may need to
think anew about its arrangement and scope. Things may have to be moved
around. I have cut and pasted whole sections between pages in an effort to
make my site more accessible. You have to realistically decide how much
you can maintain. In some ways, the initial creation is the easy (and fun)
part. But web pages are like infants which never grow up -- they have to
be constantly watched, nourished, and cleaned up after. You can rely on
programs like Doctor HTML or Linkbot to help you out only so far. There
is still no substitute for having a human check those links. If you have
other staff who can help, great. If not, realize when you add each link
that you're going to have to verify that link again soon. So, is it
worth adding?